By Ben James

Law360, New York (August 06, 2008, 12:00 AM ET) -- Connecticut's attorney general's office has filed a lawsuit against Countrywide Financial Corp., alleging that the lender steered customers into deceptive loans and charged defaulting homeowners excessive fees, making Connecticut the fourth state to sue Countrywide since June.

The complaint, filed July 28 in Superior Court in Hartford, accuses Countrywide of violating Connecticut's banking laws and consumer protection laws. The suit seeks fines, forfeitures, restitution for consumers, and asks the court to “rescind, reform or modify” mortgages that broke state laws, according to Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's...